Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Thursday, November 02, 2023

Album review: Judi Jackson - Here Comes the Sun

Judi Jackson (vocals); Jamie Safir  (piano); Will Cleasby  (drums);  Mikele Montolli  (bass); Todd Oliver  (guitar); Felix Higginbottom (perc)

A recent winner in the Vocalist of the Year category at the Jazz FM awards, UK-based US vocalist Judi Jackson's new studio album My American Songbook, will be released on November 10 ahead of a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on November 12 as part of this year’s London Jazz Festival. The ten-track collection features Jackson’s distinctive take on classic tracks from the jazz canon.


I'm not quite sure how the Beatles' Here Comes the Sun turns up in an American Songbook nor would I refer to it as being a classic from the 'jazz canon'. However, working on the premise that music and jazz in particular transcends boundaries and that, in the voice of Ms Jackson and the hands of Jamie Safir it is certainly worthy of a late entry. In fact, to my ears, it is much more listenable and certainly jazzier than the original.


The other tracks, in the main, meet the criteria and Jackson's take on Willow is a blues drenched soulful version displaying her wide range effectively. Again Safir is  right there with some Bourbon Street piano. 


Solid support throughout make this an album well worth checking out. Lance

 

Here Comes theSun; Peel me a Grape;  Willow Weep For me; With You; The Thrill Is Gone; Don’t Let me be Misunderstood; Baltimore; Stormy Weather; My Baby Just Cares For me; Come Rain or Come Shine

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